Forever Broken
by HockeyDoc
Summary: Meredith and Derek thought they had their happily ever after but when one of their kids goes missing can they stay strong and hold onto each other or will the family be forever broken. Full Summary inside. Newly updated!
1. What I've Alwyas Dreamed Of

**Forever Broken**

**Summary: After everything they'd been through together Meredith and Derek thought they finally had it; their happily ever after. They had their careers, friends, and three kids and of course each other, but when one of the kids goes missing the rest of the family starts to fall apart. Can they hold on to each other and find her or will the family stay forever broken.**

**Sequel to Out of Control**

**I don't own Grey's Anatomy, because if I did Meredith would've jumped into Derek's arms and told him she saw a future for them. **

What I've Always Dreamed of **  
**

Christmas. That one simple word meant so much; changed so much. Whenever somebody said it you could see little smiles crawl across everyone's faces and excited conversations about the holidays would break out. It was no different at Seattle Grace. Every inch of available wall space had been decorated with pictures of Santa Claus and reindeer, mistletoe hung in every doorway, surgeons wore red and green scrub caps and Christmas trees stood brightly in waiting rooms trying to cheer patient's families up.

A few years ago Meredith would've been shaking her head at all the people running around like idiots preparing for families and dinners and presents, she really didn't see what all the hype was about, that was until she met Derek and they had their children. When she was a kid Christmas to her meant just another day of being disappointed that her mother wasn't there, it meant waking up and finding the unwrapped gifts at the end of her bed because they had no time for putting up a tree. It meant eating Christmas dinner alone or with a friend's family instead of her own.

To Meredith now Christmas would still always be just another day and she would always remember her horrible childhood Christmas's. But now that she had Derek and they had three kids (her twins and Addison's daughter Christy) she was determined to not make the same mistake her mother had with her. So, after three Christmas's with a family she was getting used to it; what Christmas really meant.

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It was December the 22nd and the hospital was as incredibly busy as it usually was around the holidays. Meredith and Derek walked into the hospital hand in hand like they had for the past almost four years. The only difference from when they first started this was that for the past two and a half years they each had another little hand holding their own; their twin 2 and a half year olds Milo and Tori. This morning was the same as any other; they dropped them off at the daycare and took the elevator to the surgical floor.

"Okay, babe," Derek said as they got off the elevator, "I have a surgery at 9 and another at 3 so I should be done around 6."

"Me too," and she stood on tip toes to kiss him.

"I love you."

"Love you too," she said walking away but turned again quickly, "Derek…remember to invite Addison and Mark to Christmas dinner again." Over the years the two families had grown together; Mark and Derek were best friends again, Addison and Meredith got along; the two had a daughter, Marley who was only a few months younger than the twins and they played together really well. Plus it was always nice for Christy to get to see both of her parents getting along, even though they were divorced. She was 15 now and was still the sweet kid she was when Meredith met her over three years ago.

Meredith walked down the hall and into the Resident's locker room where Izzie and Alex were playfully arguing over what to make for Christmas Eve dinner. Alex and Izzie were not together but were now the only ones living in Meredith's old house, as her and Derek had built on Derek's land because they needed more room and George moved out a long time ago and bought a house with Callie and their two year old son, Ethan. "Hey, remember Christmas dinner at my house everyone," Meredith announced.

"We know Mer," Cristina replied, "you've been reminding us every day for a week." Cristina and Burke were married and living together, they didn't have any kids yet though, Cristina wasn't ready. "Now let's go boss some interns." Everyone laughed, Cristina was known as Nazi 2 by their interns for obvious reasons.

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Derek walked out of his OR hours later, tired but very satisfied. He had completed two successful surgeries that day and was ready to find his girlfriend and go home to his family. He pulled off his Christmas scrub cap that had replaced his usual ferryboat one in light of the holidays and washed his hands. He stepped into the hallway and almost ran into the tall figure of Mark Sloane. "Hey man, watch out I wouldn't want to hurt you," Mark teased.

"Hurt me? I seem to remember it was me who punched you and landed you flat on your ass," Derek replied.

"That was a cheap shot," they bickered like best buds all the way down the hall. Derek realised that there was no point in being mad at Mark and Addison anymore, they were all happier now than they were when they were married, so it was for the best. They entered Derek's office as they talked. When Burke had been given Chief of surgery he made sure Derek got a nice big office because he knew that Derek deserved Chief as much as he did.

Derek was about to leave when he remembered what Meredith had said that morning. "Hey Mark, Meredith told me to remind you about Christmas dinner at our house, come around 4 I guess."

"I'll tell Addison man, we'll be there." And he walked away down the hall while Derek went to find Meredith. He found her changing out of her scrubs in the locker room.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yep, let's go get our babies," and they made there way down to the daycare hand in hand. When they walked in the door of the daycare Milo immediately came running over to his mother. He was a mama's boy and didn't like being away from her too long.

"Mommy!" Meredith picked him up and kissed his head. Milo looked a lot like Meredith, he had a small build, light brown hair and green eyes, however the dimples on his cheeks and his adorable smile had earned him the nickname McDreamy Junior from Izzie, Meredith and Cristina.

"How was your day bud?" Derek asked his son as he settled into Meredith's arms, never wanting to let go.

"Otay daddy," he replied in his cute little toddler talk.

"That's good. Now where is that sister of yours?"

"Um…she was pwayin wif Mason," Milo told him.

Derek looked around and saw his daughter's dark curly hair in a corner playing with building blocks with her little friend Mason, as Milo had said. He snuck up behind her and picked her up and spun her around causing her to scream.

"Daddy! That tickles," she squealed and squirmed as he began tickling her sides.

"It does, does it?" She continued to laugh and squeal "daddy!" "Alright, alright, how's my girl today?"

"Good, I pwayed wif Mason and Miwo and Efan all day," ever since she said her first word she had been much more talkative than Milo, who usually preferred just one word answers. Tori was also small, the same size as Milo, she had dark brown curly hair, blue eyes and dimples just like Derek, however she had Meredith's nose. In Derek's opinion she was the cutest little girl he had ever seen, next to Christy maybe.

They walked back over to where Meredith was signing them out with Milo still attached to her. "There's my girl," Meredith stated, "we ready to go home and see Christy?" she asked the both replied with excited yes's. They both adored their big sister very much.

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"Christy," Derek called when they walked in through the garage door of the house. They had built a large 2 story house on Derek's land, with a double garage, a fenced in area in the yard for the kids to play, a huge kitchen for Derek, and a big deck off of the back for barbecuing and eating outside if it wasn't raining.

"In my room," the fifteen year old called back. She was a high school sophomore now and was loving every minute of it. She was smart, funny, beautiful, athletic and popular. Too popular for her own good in Derek's opinion; she had boys falling all over but he admired the way she didn't take advantage of it. She was still dating her boyfriend Aaron that she started going out with in 7th grade. Sure she could be a little bit of a handful sometimes for various reasons but she was a great kid and Derek couldn't be more proud of her.

Derek carried his twins up the stairs and knocked on the door to Christy's room, he could hear music playing softly and he typing on her laptop that he had gotten her when she started high school. "Can we come in?"

"Of course," she said and opened the door.

"Cwisty!" Both twins reached out for her wanting to be picked up so she scooped up Milo and patted Tori on the top of the head.

"How was your day Sweetie?" Derek asked after laughing at the twins.

"Pretty good, glad it's finally the holidays," she replied, while sitting down on her bed and picking up Tori now.

"Ya, you deserve it," Derek said, kissing her on the head and pulling her into a one armed hug. Derek and Christy had always been close. She was a daddy's girl from the minute she was born and Derek loved how she still let him hug and kiss her at her age. "Can you watch them for a bit while we make dinner?"

"Of course, c'mon guys let's go play with your toys."

"Thanks Sweetie." She just smiled back, the very smile that had earned her the nickname McCutie when Izzie first met her.

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A half an hour later the family sat down to dinner together, something that they tried to do as often as they could, but it was hard when both of your parents were surgeons. They chatted softly about this and that and Derek found himself not really participating in the conversation, just listening and thinking.

"Dad you alright?" Christy asked, jerking him from his thoughts to see everyone staring at him.

"Ya I'm fine why?"

"You just look out of it."

"I'm great, I was just thinking," he replied and smiled his dreamy smile.

"About what hun?" Meredith asked.

"This right here," she said, gesturing to his family, "it's what I've always dreamed of, and now I finally have it," he finished making Christy and Meredith both smile.

**That was my first chapter, hope you liked it. I just wanted to make this chapter for you to meet the new kids and the older Christy and just get a look at their happily ever after because it isn't going to last for long. Next chapter will be about the actual Christmas and will also be all fluffy like this one. After that we get into the real plot. **


	2. Happily Ever After

**I do not own Grey's Anatomy.**

Happily Ever After

Christy woke up to the sunlight pouring in her window warming her room brilliantly. She rolled over and looked at her clock; 10:00, so that's why it's so quiet, she thought, they left for the hospital hours ago. Derek and Meredith had to work today and then they had the next four days off, unless of course someone happened to need an emergency brain surgery in those four days. They had brought the twins to the hospital daycare like they usually do because Christy was spending the day with her boyfriend Aaron and then going over to her mom and Mark's house to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with them before they had to come back to Derek's for Christmas dinner.

This was pretty much how Christmas was for her every year. She would spend Christmas Eve and morning with one parent and that family and then they would have Christmas dinner at the others and then she would stay there. Having to go back and forth between her parent's houses got to be a little much at times. Sometimes she wished she could just stay in one place. She saw how happy her dad, Meredith and the twins were as a family and how her mom, Mark and Marley were as another family and she felt a little left out that she wasn't always a part of it.

After laying in the warmth and cosines of her bed for a while she decided to get up, take a shower and get ready, and have some breakfast before calling Aaron to see if he was up. By the time she was done all that it was almost noon and she and Aaron decided to go out for lunch and then go back and hang out at his house. An hour or so later they were seated at their favourite little café sipping on cappuccinos.

"So you're staying at your mom's for Christmas?" Aaron asked.

"Ya, her and Mark and Marley," she said with a sigh that didn't go unnoticed by Aaron.

"What? Is that a bad thing?"

"Well, sometimes I just wish my parents were still together. I mean I love all three of my siblings and Mark and Meredith are great, it's just I hate always going back and forth between houses and feeling left out."

"Left out?"

"Well, it's like my dad has his new family and my mom has hers and they all just look so happy like that, they have young kids, new houses, fresh starts you know. And then there's me, what's left of their life from New York," she finished with a frown.

"Hey, hey, hey. You aren't just something that's left over trust me. You're still your dad's favourite and you always will be, you can see it in the way he looks at you and talks to you, you're his first child. And you're mom, she's always going on about how great you are; at sports, in school, with your friends, with her and Mark and Marley. They love you more than anything," he comforted her and gave her hand that was lying on the table a squeeze.

"Thanks," she said as tears threatened her eyes and she covered them with a smile. They stood up and she gave him a peck on the lips before they left the café.

At Aaron's house they sat together on the couch watching a movie but before long the movie was forgotten and the kissing started. They had learned over the years to control themselves in public but when they were alone it was the complete opposite. It started with a soft kiss that got slowly more intense until Aaron's tongue pushed its way into her mouth and she gratefully allowed it as her hands ran through the back of his hair and his slowly started going up her shirt. Christy was now on her back on the couch with Aaron on top of her, his hands cupping her breasts and hers up the back of his shirt. She could feel his erection at her waist and she reached down and gave it a squeeze causing him to moan and start to take off her shirt. She pulled away and stopped him like she had a few times before when they got too close.

"I'm not ready, I'm sorry," she muttered while looking down.

"Don't apologize, it's okay, I'll wait until you are," he said. "So you ready now?" He asked jokingly.

"Aaron!" She said, smacking his arm playfully.

"I'm just kidding. How bout I give you your Christmas present then?" And he handed her a small box wrapped in cute gold paper. She tore it open, looked inside and gasped. It was a gorgeous necklace with a heart, diamond hanging on it. "Here let me put it on you," he said taking it and clasping it around her neck.

"Thank you so much," she said kissing him hard again. "Now I have to give you yours," she handed him a box, about twice the size of the one he had given her and he opened it as well to find a nice silver watch.

"Thanks a lot babe," he said as she put his on him. They continued cuddling and kissing for the rest of the after noon until she had to go to her mom's.

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"I'm here," she said when she walked in the two of her mother's three bedroom, two bathroom home that they had bought for the two of them when Derek and Addison got divorced.

"Hey honey," she heard her mom yell from the kitchen.

She took off her coat and shoes and Mark came around the corner carrying a giggly little Marley on his shoulders. "Hey squirt," he said, and pulled her into a one armed hug.

"Mark I'm not little anymore," she said referring to the nickname he used for her.

"I know, but I have been calling you that since you were one and I'm not going to stop any time soon," they both laughed.

"Heh hem," they were interrupted by Marley who decided it was her turn to talk to her big sister.

"Hey Mar!" Christy said. Marley wasn't tiny like her other siblings but she wasn't big either, she had red curly hair and blue eyes. Out of all three of her new siblings Marley looked the most alike her.

"I've been waiting fo you aw day," she said as Christy picked her up.

"Well I was visiting Aaron; you remember when you met Aaron?" She asked her.

"Um I fink so, he pwayed wif me," she smiled at her big sister, her idol.

"He did, now let's go see mommy," she said as she carried her sister into the kitchen. Marley started squirming so Christy put her down and she ran off to play as Mark came in the room.

"I'm so glad you're here," Addison said as she hugged her. "Oh my gosh! That is gorgeous," she screamed when she saw Aaron's necklace around her neck. "That boy really knows how to treat you." Christy couldn't help but think that maybe the necklace was just to soften her up so he could get in her pants, but she pushed the thought away and agreed with her mother.

"If you two ladies are done," Mark interrupted, "Addie your spaghetti is boiling over." This caused him and Christy to laugh as she rushed to stop it.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

The four spent the following day, Christmas Eve preparing for Christmas and by the time they read Marley a Christmas story and got to bed they were all exhausted.

Christy was awaked the next morning by her little sister jumping on top of her and bouncing on her bed. "It's chwistmas, it's chwistmas," she shouted.

"I know Mar," Christy said annoyed and pulled her covers over her head, "but it's also 6:00am and I'm tired."

"I wanna open pwesents, don't you?"

"Of course Mar, but not now, go wake up mommy and daddy and look in your stocking or something," she said a little angrily, which startled Marley.

"Otay," she said, bounding out of the room and into her parents. "It's Chwistmas, it's chwistmas!" She shouted again as she struggled to get onto her parents bed, which was quite a bit higher than Christy's.

"Marley…" Mark groaned, he was used to getting up early for work but he certainly didn't want to if he didn't have to. He reached over and lifted her onto the bed, hoping she'd settle down a little but that didn't work, she continued to jump up and down, waking Addison.

"Let's go look in your stocking," Addison said and she picked her up and turned around to give Mark a 'you-owe-me' look before leaving the room.

Hours later they had finally gotten Christy and Mark out of bed and had opened their presents. Marley was playing with Barbies on the floor and had Mark playing with her as his payback to Addison. Christy was playing her new Dance Dance Revolution mat on the playstation and Addison was cooking a pancake breakfast. After they ate they continued to play with their new things and Christy made both Mark and Addison try her DDR. Addison did well but Mark looked like a complete fool and they all laughed at him. At 3:00 they got cleaned up to go to Derek's.

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They showed up at Derek's and everyone was already there. Marley rushed off to play with Tori, Milo and Ethan and Christy went to see her dad in the kitchen with Mark while Addison found Callie talking to Meredith in the living room.

A few hours later Izzie and Derek announced that dinner was ready and everyone took their seats. They brought the huge amounts of food in and Derek stood up and asked for everyone's attention.

"First I want to say thank you everybody for coming and Merry Christmas," and then he did what nobody else at all was expecting. He turned to his right where Meredith was seated and got down on one knee pulling the ring out of his pocket, causing Meredith's face to go beat red. "In the four short years that I have known you Meredith, our life has been like a storybook. We've had our ups and we've had our downs and now I finally feel like the downs are over, our story is coming to an end. We have our careers, our beautiful children, our friends and family. There is only one thing missing and that is you, you are the only thing that is going to complete my storybook. Meredith Grey, will you make me us the couple at the end of the story who always get their happily ever after? Will you marry me?" He finished and all the women at the table were now bawling, including Meredith who jumped on Derek hugging him and then kissing him hard forgetting that there were 15 people watching. Mark cleared his throat and they blushed as Derek put the ring on her finger.

Everybody got up and gave each of them a hug and said their congratulations and then finally Derek said what everyone was waiting for, "let's eat."

**This chapter is finished, I was so happy and excited when I wrote the proposal and I liked it, hope you do too. Everything will start next chapter. Review please!!! **


	3. Harsh Reality

**Sorry it took me so long to update, been busy. I don't own Grey's Anatomy. **

Harsh Reality 

Christmas, Meredith thought, had been great, her best one ever. She had spent it with her huge dysfunctional family and it couldn't have been better. One thing she noticed though was that when you had a bad Christmas or rather no Christmas at all like her childhood than there really was no downfall afterwards, everything was the same. But, with a great Christmas like this one, going back to work and reality wasn't exactly exciting.

It was 6:00am on December the 28th and Meredith awoke to her alarm ringing, reminding her that her brief four days off were over. She rolled over and shut it off and got out of bed, heading for the bathroom. After her shower she came back in her room to see Derek still peacefully asleep, lucky him, she thought, he gets another day off to spend with the kids. She got dressed, dried her hair and headed downstairs for a quick breakfast before she had to leave. She was pouring herself some coffee and putting a piece of bread in the toaster when two strong hands wrapped around her waist causing her to scream.

"Derek! Don't sneak up on me like that," she said as he nuzzled his face in her neck.

"I know you like it," he replied nibbling on her ear and running his hands up under the front of her shirt.

"Derek, you may not have to go to work but I do so don't start something we can't finish."

"Hmm," he said, not paying attention, as his hands found her breasts and he spun her around to kiss her mouth. They continued kissing but were then interrupted by the toaster popping.

"Derek, you made me burn my toast," she said playfully, smacking his butt. "Now I have to go to work without breakfast." And she left the kitchen to put on her coat and shoes.

"Fine," he said following her out and giving her a quick kiss, "I'm going back to bed." Meredith stuck out her tongue like a little kid, making Derek smile and then she left the house for the hospital.

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Later that day after Derek had gotten the kids up, made them breakfast on got the younger ones dressed he sat on his back deck watching Christy hopelessly attempt to show them how to play catch. She would get them set up so they were ready to catch the ball, with their arms wide open and then she would throw it and they would flail their arms, missing the ball every time. And then when they wouldn't catch it they would kick it instead.

Eventually she gave up and just let them kick it around. She went up and sat on the deck with her father. "Having fun?" He asked, looking up from the newspaper he had.

"They're hopeless, wasn't I like 2 when you taught me how to catch?"

"Ya you were. I knew right then that you were going to be athletic; the first toss of the ball I gave you, you caught. You were so excited, I don't think your mom was though, she wanted a little fashion model or something like that," he reflected.

"Ya, but I turned out to be athletic and still like fashion, best of both worlds," she said smiling.

"You're so full of yourself," he replied laughing at her grin.

"But you love me!"

"Of course, hey it's pretty nice out, what do you say we take the twins to the park to burn off energy for when Meredith comes home?"

"Sounds good," But just then the phone rang and Derek checked the caller ID.

"It's the hospital, I'd better take this. Hello…hi Preston…you do…you need another neuro…okay…yes I'll be in soon…bye." He hung up the phone and sighed.

"You gotta go in?" Christy finally broke the silence.

"Ya, big car accident, lots of head trauma, I'm sorry sweetie," he apologized. "I should've been a teacher," he joked.

"Ha ha, ya it's alright, so what about them?" She asked, referring to the twins.

"I guess I'll have to bring them to the daycare with me," he sighed again.

"No, don't bother with that, I can watch them, I'm here anyway," she said.

"But you've never watched them by yourself and they are a handful."

"Dad, I'm 15, I can handle them, I watch them while you and Meredith are busy here, what's the difference if you're busy not here?"

"I guess so, but I am sending someone here as soon as they're available alright?"

"Okay."

"Okay, I have to get changed I'll be down in a minute," and he went inside. Minutes later he was back down and saying goodbye to them.

"Dad, trust me, we'll be fine," she assured, seeing that he was hesitating.

He told Christy to page if there was a big problem. He kissed each kid on the head and got in his car and drove off. Christy led the twins back to the fenced back yard where they resumed their game of kicking the ball.

After a few minutes they got bored and start chasing each other around instead. Tori got a little too rough and pushed Milo to the ground where he started crying loudly. Christy went over to him and picked him.

"It's okay buddy, you're fine." While she was talking to him she heard a car pull in the driveway. "Sounds like daddy's back bud, he probably forgot his pager, silly daddy," she said, trying to cheer Milo up.

"Ya, siwwy daddy," Milo repeated.

"Are you okay now?"

"Yep, but I don't wanna pway wif Tori any more, she's mean."

"She's not mean, just rougher than you, that's all, okay well let's go inside then," she said looking up expecting to see Tori playing in the yard still.

"Tori, come on inside," she said, thinking she was probably just around the corner of the house. She didn't respond. "Tori?" Again, no response from her little sister. "Tori, where are you? This isn't funny," again, no response.

It was then that they heard the loud screech of a car's tires and ran around to the front to see a car speeding down her driveway and away around the corner onto the road. The car was gone and whoever was driving had her little sister. She rushed inside and dialled 9-1-1, tears stung her eyes as the harsh reality of what had happened set in.

**It's a little different and it will make a difference next chapter.**


	4. Waiting

**I MADE A FEW CHANGES TO THE LAST CHAPTER SO YOU MIGHT WANT TO GO BACK AND RE-READ!!! I don't own Grey's Anatomy.**

Waiting

"Okay people, it's a beautiful day to save lives," the familiar saying of Derek Shepherd was heard through the OR. He took the ten blade and began the incision when a pager was heard going off in the far side of the room beside an assistant.

"Dr. Shepherd, it's yours; 911 from the Chief," she said.

"The Chief? But he just called me in for this," he questioned.

"He's paging you again Dr, it must be urgent," she told him.

"Alright, well he must have another Dr coming in then, if he's paging me out," he took his pager, scrubbed out and headed for the Chief's office. He saw Meredith coming down the hall towards him and started to worry. She was supposed to be in an emergency surgery right now also.

"Derek, he paged you too?" She asked when she got close enough, "do you think something is wrong at home?"

"I don't know," he replied, but inside he was extremely worried. He hadn't been gone long yet, however the twins were a handful and Christy hadn't been left alone with them before, had he made a mistake? But she babysat Marley all the time. They entered the Chief's office and began to panic when they saw Dr. Webber with a police officer.

"What's going on?" Meredith asked. "Did something happen to my kids?"

The police officer stepped forward and said, "Drs I am very sorry to have to tell you this but we just received a call from your daughter saying your younger daughter is missing, so if you'll come with me back to your house we need to ask you some questions."

"What do you mean she's missing?" Meredith shouted. "Like she just wondered off or she was kidnapped?"

"We'll know more as soon as we talk to your older daughter and the officers that are at your house right now," he replied. Both Meredith and Derek were speechless as they followed the officer out of the hospital earning many stares from other doctors and nurses.

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Christy Shepherd sat on the couch in her house worrying and holding onto her little brother Milo for dear life. No matter what he would never get out of her sight. He was scared of all the commotion but Christy suspected he still didn't really understand what was happening. There were police officers everywhere; men walking around with cameras taking pictures of various things that, in Christy's opinion, had nothing to do with where Tori was. Why weren't they out looking for her or asking her what she saw?

It was then that the front door opened and Meredith came running in, scooping Milo out of Christy's arms. She could see her dad talking to a cop in the kitchen and she could see his normally happy features full of sadness and stress. The officer came into the room and said he wanted to ask Christy a few questions; he sat down in the chair across from her.

"Okay Christy," Officer Roberts said. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Okay well, Dad, and the twins and I were in the backyard playing and dad got called into work so he left me with them," she began. "Milo and Tori were chasing each other around and Milo fell down and started crying. I went over to him and was trying to make him feel better and stop crying. We heard a car pull in the driveway and I thought…I thought dad was back," she stuttered, realizing the mistake she had made.

"So I asked Milo if he wanted to go see him and I picked him up and turned around expecting to see Tori but I didn't, I thought she was around the corner of the house or something trying to get out of the gate to see dad. I called her name a few times and she didn't answer and then we heard a car screeching down the driveway. I ran around to the front just as the car was at the turn in our driveway and then it was gone," she finished, tears filling her eyes as she relived the experience. She put her head in her hands feeling that this was all her fault.

"Did you happen to notice what kind of car it was, or get any licence plate numbers maybe?" He asked.

"Well it was a white SUV, that's all I saw."

"Alright, well that helps, thank you Christy," and he got up to go talk to other cops. The room was silent except for Milo sniffling. Meredith sat with him on her lap on the loveseat while Derek stood behind, his face blank and distant.

"Daddy…" Christy tried, she needed to know what he was thinking, was he mad or just scared?

Derek looked down at his fifteen year old daughter, his face turning from its blank look to angry, sad and disappointed at the same time. "I trusted you to watch them Christy! I thought you were ready to handle both of them, you told me you were, and now Tori's gone!" He said, breaking down.

"Derek!" Meredith yelled, "Can I talk to you in the kitchen for a minute?" She handed Milo to Christy and they left the room.

"Derek," she said, grabbing his hand, "you can't yell at her like that, it isn't her fault."

"Mer, please she's my daughter not yours, I can handle her myself," he told her rudely and walked back into the living room leaving Meredith on the verge of tears in the kitchen, wondering how their usually close family was on thin ice already.

When Christy saw Derek come in the room she put Milo back on the floor and left the room, avoiding eye contact with her father. She went up the stairs, into her room and slammed the door behind her. Was he really angry with her for this or was he just scared and upset and said stuff he didn't mean?

She turned on her laptop hoping Aaron would be online; she really needed him right now to tell her it was going to be alright.

_FutureDrShepherdluv u aaron has just signed on._

_iLoveChristy says: hey babe_

_FutureDrShepherdluv u aaron says: I need you, can you come over?_

_iLoveChristy says: sure, what's wrong?_

_FutureDrShepherdluv u aaron says: can't explain now, just come quick and don't be alarmed when you get here, come up to my room._

_iLoveChristy says: um, okay, you're scaring me, but I'll be right there. _

_iLoveChristy has signed off. _

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Derek sat on the living room couch alone. It appeared that Christy and Meredith were no longer talking to him, which was alright he didn't really feel like talking right now but he did wish they weren't mad. Christy had run up to her room about 20 minutes ago and Meredith had silently taken Milo and gone to their room. So, he sat on the couch alone waiting; waiting for any kind of news at all. He felt so hopeless. Usually he could fix anything for his kids and now there was nothing he could do and it scared him.


	5. Scared and Alone

Scared and Alone

He lay all alone on the couch, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He had no clue how long he had been there, only that nobody had come to give him good news, or any news for that matter. He had been thinking about how he'd yelled at Christy and then gotten angry at Meredith for no reason other than he was scared and upset. He had blamed this whole mess on Christy when he'd gotten home, even though he new it wasn't her fault and now his family was falling apart. He had to do something; they wouldn't be able to get through this without each other.

Derek got up and headed slowly up the stairs to his bedroom, knocked on the door and heard Meredith whisper a faint "come in." He opened the door and walked in the room. Meredith was lying on her side on the bed, facing the door. Milo was asleep beside her and she was holding onto his small hand and watching him, tears flowing down her cheeks.

Derek decided it would be better to stand by the door for now but inside all he wanted was to pull Meredith into his arms and tell her that everything would be okay. He watched and waited a few moments before speaking slowly. "One day when Christy was 4 years old," he started, "her, Addison, Mark and I were out at the brownstone. It was a really nice day and we were sitting down at the dock when Addison's pager went off and she had to go in." He waited a few seconds until Meredith looked up at him letting him know she was listening.

"After she left Christy decided she wanted to go swimming so Mark went in to put his bathing suit on. She was really excited and didn't want to wait for Mark so I told her to wait while I went in the shed to get her life jacket. When I turned around again she was gone…I could hear splashing coming from the water," his face was distant as he recalled his memory and he continued, "I jumped in the water just as she passed out and stopped splashing and I pulled her out. Mark and I spent the scariest 10 minutes trying to get her to breathe again; we almost lost her," by now he had tears on his cheeks too. "We got her breathing just as the ambulance came and when we got the hospital Addison was there waiting, she told me I was a bad father and I shouldn't have taken my eye off her. We didn't talk for weeks, long after Christy was just fine. It didn't matter; the damage on us was permanent; that's when our marriage first started to break. All because we were scared and said things we didn't mean."

"Meredith I don't want that to happen with us, I can't live without you so I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you and you are right, this isn't Christy's fault at all," he finished, walking over and sitting on the end of the bed, taking Meredith's other hand.

"I forgive you Derek," she said as she fell into his arms, tears still falling down her cheeks. Both of them were crying for Tori and for their hurting family.

"Tori's going to be okay Mer, she's only little but she's strong, the police will find her," he said, but even as he did, he had a hard time believing it, but for now that was all they had to hang onto. They stayed there like that for a few more minutes before Meredith said, "Derek I think you need to apologize to Christy."

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Christy sat on her bed, fingers interlocked with Aaron's, who had showed up a few minutes ago and Christy had told him the whole story. He had hugged her and told her everything was going to be okay but after that they stayed quiet. Her laptop on the desk beside them beeped, letting her know she had received an email. She ignored it but Aaron's head turned to the screen, needing something else other than the door to focus on. He looked to the bottom corner of the screen where the email alert was and stood up suddenly when he saw that the email was from him.

"Christy…you'd better look at this," Aaron said timidly, after starring at the screen for a minute.

"What," she got off the bed and stood beside Aaron, who continued to stare intensely at the screen in front of him. A sharp intake of breath was heard from her when she saw what he was looking at. In her email inbox an email stood out; it was from Aaron and in the subject box; 'Tori.'

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Derek knocked on his daughter's door and she didn't answer so he decided to try apologizing from out in the hall. "Christy…I'm really sorry, this isn't your fault at all; I was just scared and upset and I said things I didn't mean," he tried.

The door was opened and Christy gave him a quick hug. "Dad it's fine, I understand, but you have to see this." She dragged him to her computer screen.

"Christy, I don't really care about an email right now," Derek told her, not wanting to be rude but an email was the last thing on his mind.

"Not even if it's about Tori?" Upon hearing this Derek squeezed the hand Christy was still holding and looked up at the screen. Aaron opened the email and they all read it silently. 'I have your daughter. If you ever want to see her alive again I want 2 million dollars in 12 hours and absolutely no telling the cops. I will send you drop off instructions later. P.S. I'm watching you.'

"Open the attachment," Derek's voice cracked when he spoke and tears threatened the corners of his eyes. Aaron clicked on the attachment and a picture of a terrified little Tori filled the screen. Aaron sat silently starring at the screen, Christy stood crying unable to move and tears spilled from Derek's cheeks. "That son of a bitch," he yelled, his baby girl was scared and alone, he needed to so something.

**Sorry it's so short, I have been really busy but school is almost over so I will write after that.**


	6. No Help

**I have to start by apologizing for not finishing this a long time ago when I wrote it. I ran out of ideas and gave up on it, but I woke up this morning and decided I was going to finish it because I hate when other people don't finish their stories. I don't own Grey's Anatomy.**

No Help

"_Not even if it's about Tori?" Upon hearing this Derek squeezed the hand Christy was still holding and looked up at the screen. Aaron opened the email and they all read it silently. 'I have your daughter. If you ever want to see her alive again I want 2 million dollars in 12 hours and absolutely no telling the cops. I will send you drop off instructions later. P.S. I'm watching you.'_

"_Open the attachment," Derek's voice cracked when he spoke and tears threatened the corners of his eyes. Aaron clicked on the attachment and a picture of a terrified little Tori filled the screen. Aaron sat silently starring at the screen, Christy stood crying unable to move and tears spilled from Derek's cheeks. "That son of a bitch," he yelled, his baby girl was scared and alone, he needed to do something._

"Son of a Bitch," Derek repeated himself. They stood in silence for a minute, tears in Derek and Christy's eyes as Derek thought about what to do. It was then that he noticed on the top of the email, who it was from and he turned to Aaron. "You?" he asked confused. "Why does it say that it's from you?" he asked, louder and more angrily.

"Dr.Shepherd I'm just as confused as you are about this," Aaron told him. "I honestly don't know."

"Dad, come on, he was here when that email popped up," Christy reasoned with her father.

"Right, sorry," Derek said, "I need to go tell Meredith. He left the room in search of her and Christy and Aaron followed, carrying her laptop.

Meredith read the email as tears filled her eyes, but when she saw the picture it was too much for ehr to handle and she collapsed into Derek's arms, sobbing. "What are we going to do Derek?" Meredith cried.

"I don't know babe," Derek responded as he held his fiancé tighter. They all sat like that, Aaron holding Christy and Derek holding Meredith for close to ten minutes before Derek spoke. "I'm going to the hospital; I'm going to see if Burke can get us the money."

"Derek I think we should tell the police," Meredith replied softly.

"No way, you read the email; he'll kill Tori if we do."

"Honey, that's ridiculous, how could he possibly be watching us?"

"Meredith, this person, whoever it is, he's obviously really messed up, it's certainly possible that he is watching us somehow," Christy spoke up as she stared at the floor and fiddled with her necklace.

"Christy's right," Derek said, "we cannot go to the cops, no matter what." With that, Derek grabbed his keys off of the counter and left for the hospital. This asshole is going to pay for what he's doing, he thought.

He arrived at the hospital and ran up the stairs to Burke's office. "I need a favour, I need a huge favour," Derek panted as he slammed open the door and startled Burke, who was sitting at his desk, massaging his temples.

"Of course Derek, anything," he replied, he had become good friends with Derek over the years, as Cristina was best friends with Meredith.

"I need two million dollars."

"Okay when I said anything..."

"I know it's a lot to ask Preston but it's the only way we're going to get Tori back, please help," Derek replied sounding sad and desperate.

"I'll see what I can do Derek, give me a few hours. How much time do you have?"

"Twenty-four."

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Back at the house, police interviewed Meredith who sat with Milo on her lap and Christy and Aaron on one side of her. They were asking her if she could think of anyone who might have a reason to hurt Tori, or if there was anyone she could think of who could be responsible for this. Meredith replied no, nothing like this had ever happened to them before, and she couldn't think of any reason for it to.

When Derek returned he was asked the same questions. Had he ever been threatened by any patients perhaps? Again, he answered no. What Derek was so confused about was why the house was full of cops asking him questions instead of being out looking for his daughter. "I have a question for you now," Derek said, rather angrily, "why the hell, are you in here asking my fiancé and I stupid questions about possibly threatening surgical patients instead of being out there," he pointed to the front door, "looking for my daughter!"

"I assure you sir," the cop said to him, "we are doing everything in our power to find her." Derek couldn't talk to him anymore, he was useless, so he stalked away, back to Meredith and his other children, thinking about what they could do to save her themselves, because they were not getting any help.


	7. Hidden in the Shadows

**I don't own Grey's Anatomy.**

Hidden in the Shadows

He was running through the forest near his house, he could hear Tori's scream and he was getting closer and closer every second. He was going to save her, his baby girl, and he was going to kill whoever took her.

Derek woke up covered in cold sweat, tears streaming down his cheeks. Meredith was asleep to his right, holding onto his sleeping son Milo. To his left was his daughter Christy who had also finally fallen asleep. Derek looked at the clock, 7:15. He hadn't been asleep more than 2 hours, and it hadn't been restful sleep at all. They had finally decided to go to bed at about 4:00 after both Milo and Christy had fallen asleep on the couch and Aaron's mother had come to pick him for some sleep as well. Meredith had carried Milo, and Derek carried Christy, which he hadn't done in many years up the stairs to his bedroom where they all slept. Neither of the kids woke up from being moved, they were too tired. Meredith lied down between them and stroked Milo's cheek, kissed his forehead and then turned to Christy and kissed hers as well. They had grown very close over just a few short years.

Derek however didn't lie down, he continued to pace. After watching him for 15 minutes Meredith tried to convince him to get some rest, that pacing and running his hand through his hair wasn't doing any good. So, finally around 5:30 he fell asleep. Now it was after 7 and he had to get up, he had to figure out what to do. He got up, had a shower and was just getting dressed when the phone rang, waking Meredith.

"Hello?" Derek answered semi hopefully.

"Derek it's me, I got the money ready for you."

"Thank-you so much Preston, I'll be right in." He hung up.

"Who was that?" Meredith asked.

"Dr. Burke, he got us the money." Derek left Meredith with the kids and went to pick up the money.

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By 11:00 Aaron and Derek had returned to the house, everyone was awake and sitting around waiting for news. Meredith had made some toast for breakfast but nobody ate very much.

Christy and Aaron were in her room looking at the picture of poor Tori when an email alert popped up. They looked at each other and then tentatively opened the email that was from Aarons account. It was very simple; "Maple street cemetery, 12 hours. The whole family must be there, and Aaron too. Don't be late and don't go to the cops, follow these rules and Tori may survive." They clicked on the attachment and were faced with another picture of Tori, only in this one she was badly beaten; she was bleeding and covered in bruises.

"Shit!" Christy cursed. "That asshole is going to pay." "Daaaaaaaaaaaaaad!"

Derek came running up, read the email, saw the picture and let out some curse words of his own. He was starting to think that they may need to go to the cops, he knew that trade off's like the one planned never worked out well. But after seeing that picture of Tori all beaten, he knew cops just weren't an option. He left the room to go tell Meredith, he didn't want her to see the picture. He found her talking to some cops who continued to apologize, telling her that they didn't know anything and when they did, that she would be the first to hear it. Yeah right, Derek thought, you're never going to know anything anyway.

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Meanwhile, over at the hospital Burke had Addison, Mark, George and Izzie all looking at old hospital records trying to see if there was anyone who could possibly be holding a grudge against either Meredith or Derek for a death. They came up with the names of a few people who had lost a loved one under Meredith's or Derek's scalpel. They also came up with a few attempted lawsuits, although none had ever been able to win their case. These were the possible people who wanted revenge.

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Christy and Aaron opened both pictures and put them side by side, studying them. "What's that," Aaron asked after a few minutes, pointing to something reddish against the grey wall behind Tori. "It has some kind of marking on it." They continued to look at it for a few minutes; it was hidden in the shadows. They squinted in hopes they would figure out what that object was.

"Oh my god," Christy suddenly said as she sat back in her seat. "I know what that is, and even better, I recognize that marking.

"What?" Aaron asked excitedly.

"That's a fire extinguisher. And it has the Seattle Grace logo on it!"

**That's that chapter, did you see that coming?**


	8. Is it Hope?

**I don't own Grey's Anatomy.**

Is it Hope?

"That son of a bitch!" Derek yelled as he drove, way over the speed limit. "He's been keeping her right in the hospital the whole time." They had all piled into Derek's black Mercedes SUV and were on their way to the hospital. Derek had called ahead and told Burke to get people to start looking for her; he also requested he find an updated floor plan of the building, so they could make sure they searched absolutely everywhere.

Burke had found Mark, Addison, George, Alex, Cristina and Izzie to start searching. By the time the Shepherds arrived at the hospital the group had finished searching the entire 6th floor already, with no luck. Meredith found Izzie to look after Milo while she searched the hospital for her baby girl. Derek tore off to find Burke and get the floor plans, which left Christy and Aaron to aid in the search. They decided to split into two groups now that they had four extra people so Christy, Aaron, Addison, Derek and Mark searched the 5th floor, while Meredith, Cristina, George and Alex searched the 4th. They continued this way, alternating floors all the way down to the main floor, and they found no sign of Tori, whatsoever.

"Just the basement left," Alex said as both groups finished searching the main floor.

"From that picture," Christy piped up, "that looked like the most likely place for her to be." Everyone took the elevator to the basement; the ride down was completely silent; each person knowing this was their last hope of finding her at the hospital.

"Everyone fan out," Derek instructed when the elevator doors dinged open. Derek searched with Mark; they entered utility closets and linen storage cabinets, with no luck. They even searched in the lab. Their last hope was the door ahead of them, the oxygen room. They opened the door, this room was filled with empty oxygen tanks that stood 6 feet tall and 2 feet in diameter. Derek spotted a fire extinguisher on the far side of the room and ran to it. "This is it man, this is where the pictures were taken; grey block wall with a fire extinguisher on the right side, Christy could just make out the Seattle Grace logo on the extinguisher, see," Derek explained to Mark, excitement in his voice at the prospect of maybe locating his daughter.

He looked around but didn't see anything, had the kidnapper realized that they figured it out and left already, for a safer place?

"Derek," he turned to face Mark who had found another door that led to another room and had his ear pressed up against it. "Listen to this."

Derek pressed his ear up against the door beside Mark. At first he heard nothing, thought Mark was making it up. Just as he was about to pull away he heard it, someone was moving inside that room and it was someone small. Mark grabbed a wrench that was lying on the floor as Derek ripped open the door. They were now in the furnace room, a place where almost nobody goes, a good place to hide. "Tori," Derek shouted, but he got no answer.

"Derek," Mark said.

"What!" Derek snapped. Mark pointed to a family of mice scurrying across the floor towards a hole on the opposite wall. "Damnit! I just want my daughter back," he yelled, knowing nobody but Mark was listening to him. If the son of a bitch was there at one point he wasn't anymore. "Enough with the games! We'll do anything, just give her back to us," he trailed off, and began to sob. Mark wasn't sure what to do so he just squeezed Derek's shoulder while he composed himself.

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It was 3:00, they had been searching for more than 3 hours and they hadn't found her. They all sat around a board room table, defeated, as they had searched every square inch of the hospital. Milo was back in Meredith's arms, he was beginning to understand what was going on and he was very scared, as he clung to his mother.

"Daddy, I'm really sorry," Christy finally broke the sad silence. "I saw the extinguisher with the logo and I thought for sure she'd be here, I'm sorry."

"Sweet-heart, it was a good try, you don't have to apologize."

"You know," Mark said, "the kidnapper could have taken that extinguisher at anytime and staged his hiding spot to look like it was in the hospital. He could be anywhere."

"You think I haven't thought of that," Derek snapped, "fuck Mark, would you just shut up!" This startled everyone; they were not used to seeing Derek that way.

After fifteen minutes of silence, it was Addison's turn to question Derek. "Derek, don't yell at me for saying this, because I realize you've probably already thought of it but in case you haven't; what if it's a set up? The money I mean."

"I've thought of that too and I don't know Addie, this is our only hope."

"I understand."

Derek's cell rang, it was the cops. They asked him if he had received a ransom notice yet and he lied no, remembering the email, "No cops, if you follow these rules she might have a chance." The cop was silent for a moment and then said to Derek, "Generally, Dr. Shepherd, if you don't receive a ransom within 20 to 24 hours chances are you aren't going to at all, which means it's not about money, which means…" he trailed off.

"I know what it means," Derek snapped. Then his voice changed, he sounded sad and desperate. "Please just tell me that you're doing everything in your power to find my daughter. I don't know if you have kids' officer but if you do, think about what it would be like if one went missing, put yourself in my shoes, and then tell me that you're doing everything you can." There was a pause on the other end of the line as the cop thought about his answer.

"I have two daughters actually, 8 and 12, and I assure you my team and I are doing everything possible to help bring Tori home," he replied sincerely.

"Thank-you." But was there really still any hope left?


	9. Fall to Pieces

**First of all, in response to a couple of reviews, no Tori's kidnapper is not a sex offender, she wasn't molested. I don't own Grey's Anatomy.**

Fall to Pieces

It was 10:00pm on December the 29th. One hour until they were supposed to meet in the cemetery with the money and hope that the kidnapper showed up to give Tori back. This whole mess could be over in little over an hour, Derek thought, although deep down he felt that there was a very slim chance that that would be the case.

They were all still at the hospital, sitting around a boardroom table in silence. Mark had been called into surgery, as had George. Izzie and Alex had gone to check on patients, which left the Shepherd's, Aaron, Cristina, Burke, and Addison in the room. Christy sat beside her mother who was lovingly stroking the back of her head and rubbing her back. It was comforting for Christy to know how much her mother loved her and cared about her. After the accident a few years ago they had grown very close, Addison was a strong influence in her life.

The only sounds in the room were that of Meredith talking ever so quietly to Milo trying to comfort him and the tick tock of the clock on the wall as the time approached 10:15. Everyone was exhausted but sleep was the last thing on their minds at this point. Everyone thought of poor little Tori and what she was going through; they hoped they'd be able to bring her home very soon.

"I can't sit here anymore," Derek suddenly said, "we're going now, c'mon guys." The four Shepherds and Aaron got up, grabbed their coats and went to leave.

"Wait!" Addison and Burke said at the same time. They all turned.

"Derek?" Addison questioned, "you're taking the kids?"

"I have to Addison."

"Christy and Aaron aren't going Derek! If you bring Milo that's your choice, but my daughter is not going with you, it could be too dangerous. You have no idea what this psychopath is planning."

"Addison," Meredith spoke, "the ransom said all five of us had to go or he'd kill Tori for sure, it's our only hope, please?"

Addison didn't reply; tears just filled her eyes. Christy ran to her mother and hugged her, whispering in her ear, "it'll be okay mom; we have to go, to save Tori." Addison gestured for Aaron to come closer and she pulled him into her other arm, hugging them both.

"Okay," she sniffled, "just promise me, both of you, that you'll be careful." They both replied yes.

Christy went to follow her father out the door and so did Aaron but not before whispering to Addison, "I'll look after her, promise."

Addison smiled as he walked away to follow the Shepherds out. "Thank-you," she called.

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It's 10:52 when they pull into the cemetery. Derek parked the car and they walked, staying close together through the gates and into the middle of the path. Milo remained in Meredith's arms as she stood to Derek's left. Derek was holding the money bag in his left hand and Christy and Aaron stood to his right. They waited in silence, all breathing heavily as Aaron's watch hit 11:00, then 11:01, 11:02.

It was then that they could see headlights approaching from the opposite side of the cemetery that they had entered from. The vehicle drove right down the path that ran down the middle of the cemetery and stopped 50 yards short of where the Shepherds were standing. When the vehicle stopped and shut off its headlights they could see that it was a white SUV, Chevrolet Tahoe to be exact.

Emerging from the driver's seat was a man, who was about the same height as Derek, had longish messy brown hair and a brown beard. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a black hoodie. He went to the back of the SUV and pulled out a terrified blind-folded, but alive, Tori.

Meredith instantly began to cry, her head going to Derek's shoulder at the sight of her baby girl. "Tori, hunny, it's going to be okay, mommy and daddy are here."

"Mommy!" Tori cried out at the sound of her mother's voice.

"Okay, enough with the games, we've got your money, just give her back," Derek told the kidnapper.

"Now now, is that any way to talk to an old friend," he said to Derek.

"Old friend? I don't have a clue who you are, just give me my daughter back!"

"Hmm…I do remember you being an ignorant bastard, you haven't changed at all." He turned to Meredith, "you on the other hand…you recognize me, don't you, Dr.Grey?"

"What's going on?" Derek shouted.

"Derek," Meredith started, "this is Mr. Roy Jones." Derek's eyes were still blank, this caused Roy to laugh. "His daughter was a patient of ours almost a year ago. Erika fell and hit her head, her brain was bleeding, we went into surgery to fix it but she died before we even cut her skull flap open."

"She was 3 years old Dr. Shepherd, almost the same age as Tori here," he gestured to Tori, who was squirming in his hands. "You told me that she would be fine, that it was a routine procedure and she would make a full recovery. Then, an hour later you come out and tell me she's dead, that you did everything you could. That was bull shit."

"We did everything we could," Derek yelled, "I promise you."

"Shut up, I'm talking. My wife Dr's, she's depressed, barely talks, hardly eats, never leaves the house, and it's all because of you. She'll never recover from this; the loss of our three year old has ruined her forever." Tears came to his eyes.

"We didn't kill your daughter," Derek pleaded, "please don't kill ours."

"Do you know what it feels like to bury your child Dr. Shepherd?"

"No," he replied weakly, tears filling his eyes.

"Well you will now," Roy pulled out a gun. "You're going to know what it feels like to have a happy family one day and have it fall to pieces the next."

**Reviews please!**


	10. The Trade

**I don't own Grey's Anatomy.**

The Trade

"_Do you know what it feels like to bury your child Dr. Shepherd?"_

"_No," he replied weakly, tears filling his eyes._

"_Well you will now," Roy pulled out a gun. "You're going to know what it feels like to have a happy family one day and have it fall to pieces the next._

"Wait," Derek shouted, "we have the money, right here." He showed Roy the duffel bag that contained two million dollars.

Roy laughed an evil throaty laugh, and didn't notice Aaron shuffle a few inches to the right. "You don't get it do you? It was never about the money at all Dr. Shepherd."

"Then why ask for it?"

"How else was I supposed to get you here to witness your daughter's death other then make you believe you were getting her back?"

This guy was really pissing Derek off, all he wanted to do was run at him and strangle him, but he kept his cool; he needed to keep him talking until he could think of a plan. Also, running at him was just going to make Roy use the gun he had in his hand. "But we didn't kill your daughter, she died as a result of her injuries, we did everything we could," he pleaded.

"No," Roy stated flatly, as Aaron moved a few more inches over without him noticing. "No, you didn't, you could have done the surgery earlier, and you could've saved her. And now, now you're going to pay. You and your family are going to suffer the consequences for my daughter's death." He looked down at Tori and Aaron shuffled a few more inches over, un-noticed. Roy cocked the gun…

"Wait!!" Christy shouted, causing Roy to look up from Tori. "Take me instead."

"Noooo!" Derek yelled, he had a plan and Christy was ruining it, in her desperate attempt to save her sister.

"Well, well, well, you've got a brave daughter here Dr. Shepherd. She's willing to give up her life to save her baby sister."

"Promise you won't hurt anyone else in my family and you can have me," Christy told him.

"Well I was going to say no, because Tori is almost the same age as my daughter was, but your reaction Dr. Shepherd, when Christy offered herself up, it made me realize that one Shepherd child is as good as another, your family will suffer no matter what, you will suffer no matter which of your precious children I kill." He didn't notice as Aaron again shuffled a few inches to the right.

"Christy please don't do this," Derek turned to her.

"Daddy," Christy choked out, "this is my fault to begin with, let me take the fall for it." Before anyone could say anything else Christy was walking towards Roy slowly. She stopped just out of his reach and demanded that he let Tori go.

"Alright," he said as he put her down and removed her blindfold so that she could run to her mother, which she did as she cried.

Christy saw this as her opportunity and she turned and tried to run as well, but he was too quick and he grabbed her arm. "Woah, where are you going, we had a deal."

Christy struggled against his grasp but knew it was no use; he'd just shoot her if she got away and possibly someone else in her family too. "Now," Roy said, "to torture you even more I'm going to tell you the whole story of how I completed this master plan of mine."

Good, Aaron thought, keep talking and give me a chance to save my girlfriend. Roy began his story as Aaron shuffled a little more to the right. "So let's start with the fact that I've been stalking, no I don't like that word…let's say obsessively watching you guys for quite a few months now. My plan was to kidnap little Tori but I didn't know how or when so I decided I needed some way to watch you guys inside the house. That's when I noticed Aaron over there going into the jewelry store near his house to look for a Christmas gift for Christy. I thought to myself what a great way to get a camera inside, so I got a job at the store and sold Aaron that necklace with a camera in it." Christy's hand went to the necklace around her neck.

"That's why I recognized you!" Aaron shouted, instantly regretting that choice, hoping that Roy didn't notice he had moved over about two feet by this point. He let out a sigh when Roy didn't say anything and just kept telling his story.

"So now I was just watching you, I had the plan for what to do once I got her but was waiting for the right moment to take her. My plan was to take her from the hospital day care in about a week or so, but when you got called into work Dr. Shepherd and left the kids with Christy I saw it as a perfect opportunity. So, I drove to the house opened the gate and little Tori came right to me. You should teach her about strangers you know."

"Why Aaron's email?" Meredith asked.

"For fun," he simply replied. "I'm good with computers, so it was simple."

"The background in the pictures?" Derek asked, needing to stall him more.

"Quite clever wasn't it? Sending you guys frantically looking through the hospital when she was never even there. I took it a few days earlier just to confuse you guys." It was then that Aaron slowly bent down and picked up a softball sized rock from the ground beside his foot. By some miracle, Roy was too busy admiring his own cleverness that he didn't notice. So, Aaron stood rock in hand, waiting for the right moment.

"I brought you guys here because, well I did it for your convenience really, you're going to have to come here to bury your daughter anyway, plus nobody's going to hear you scream. And now, finally, to complete my plan I'm going to kill Christy here. So Christy, do you think it'll be easier for him to bury you instead of Tori or harder?" He taunted her. He put the gun to her head, watching her terrified face as he did, and then they were all startled by the sound of police sirens and the sight of cars pulling up all around them. Cops jumped out of the cars and drew their guns, yelling at Roy to put his down. But Roy was smart, he knew they couldn't shoot anyway because they could hit Christy.

He cocked the gun and went to put his finger on the trigger, but before he could pull it Aaron took aim and threw the rock, hitting Roy square in the face, causing him to stumble backwards and lose his grip on Christy's arm. She ran to her father, getting out of the line of fire just in time as Roy was hit with 5 bullets and fell to the ground, dead.

Christy and Derek cried as they held onto each other for dear life. Over top of her shoulder Derek mouthed a thank-you to Aaron and he smiled through his tears and came over to hug Christy too. He had kept his promise to Addison, he had protected her.


	11. Forever

**I don't own Grey's Anatomy.**

Forever

The time was 12:15am, and the whole Shepherd family was inside of Derek's SUV. Tears silently fell down almost everyone's faces. But these were not tears of sadness, anger and grief like the tears of the last 36 hours had been. These were tears of joy and relief; they had their baby girl, she was okay, and they were bringing her home. Tori sat in the back seat with Meredith, as she held onto both her and her brother for dear life. The ride was silent; everyone was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. The paramedics had suggested that Tori be brought to the hospital to get checked out, just in case, so that was where they were headed. Derek followed behind a police car, and had another one following behind him, to make sure they arrived at the hospital safely.

Back at the hospital the rest of the group sat in the boardroom waiting for news and watching the front door. It was pretty much silent accept for the occasional word from one person to another. George, Izzie and Addison, after the Shepherds had left, kept searching for people who may have a grudge against either Meredith or Derek in the patient records. They came up with a list of ten most likely people. This however wouldn't have done any good accept, Addison decided that she wasn't going to just sit there when her daughter and her friend's children could be in danger, not to mention her ex-husband and his new fiancé. Without telling anyone other than George and Izzie, Addison faxed their list of possible suspects to the police station.

It turns out they had a list of their own which included all white SUV's in the area, and when they compared them, one name stood out; Roy Jones, father of Erika Jones, who had died almost a year before from a brain injury. He had tried to file a lawsuit against the Shepherd doctors for not doing their job but he lost. The police decided that this was most likely the man who had kidnapped Tori. They called the Shepherd house and got no answer, so they called Derek's cell phone and again got no answer. A team was sent to their house to make sure nothing had happened to them. When they didn't answer the door, the team of police went in and searched the house. In Christy's room they came across her opened turned on laptop with the second email from Roy still up on the screen. They read the email and looked at their watches. "Shit," one cop exclaimed, "they've already gone over there." He immediately called and told the cop in charge to get over to the cemetery right away, and so they did, and because they did they saved Tori, and Christy and the rest of the Shepherds.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

"Look," Cristina said, back at the hospital. Everyone turned to see Meredith coming through the front door of the hospital holding Milo in her arms, just as she had when they left. She was followed closely by Christy and Aaron. Everyone exchanged looks, where was Derek? And Tori? A few seconds later, through the door emerged Derek, and in his arms, his daughter Tori. Meredith came straight to the boardroom where hugs were exchanged and she told them that Tori was going to be okay. Dr.Bailey examined Tori and decided it would be best if she stayed in the hospital overnight on IV because she was dehydrated and she also wanted to make sure she did not have any internal injuries. Meredith stayed the night in the hospital while Derek took his other kids home for some sleep, and returned in the morning to take Tori home.

Over the next week or so Tori, as expected was not herself. She was shy and quiet, and she hardly ever left her mother or father's side. They were worried that this would have a permanent effect on her.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

The day was May 10th and the Shepherd's back deck and yard was full of people, who had come to celebrate the twins third birthday with a barbecue and pool party. Burke and a pregnant Cristina were there, Mark and Addison had come with Marley, George and Callie had come with Ethan, Izzie and Alex came, although not together, Meredith's friend Lucy had come with her son Mason who the twins new from daycare, and Aaron had come with his mother and father who were becoming friends with the Shepherds. Needless to say, with 5 toddlers, 2 teenagers and 13 adults, the place was chaos, but Derek didn't mind, because everyone was happy and having fun.

Tori had made a full recovery; her bruises were gone, all of her cuts were gone, accept for one scar on her upper left arm, and she was back to being the outgoing, goofy, adorable little kid she was before the kidnapping.

Derek and Mark stood behind the grill cooking up hamburgers and hot dogs for their hungry crowd. They talked and joked and drank beer like buddies would but there was one thing that Mark couldn't get out of his mind; Derek and Meredith and the kids were still the only people who knew what happened that night at the cemetery, Derek had never spoken a word about how they saved her and what happened.

Derek made a joke about something which made Mark laugh but then his face turned serious. "Derek?" He asked.

Derek looked at Mark, his face turned serious too, he thought he knew what was coming, the question he had been dreading Mark or Burke would ask. "Mark?"

"It's just, you and Meredith and the kids, you're the only ones who know what happened that night, and none of you have ever said anything about it, how you saved her, what happened. Is there a reason? Because you can talk to me about it if you want to, I just wanted you to know that, since we're friends again and all." Mark told him, sounding a lot like a teenage girl.

Derek stayed silent for a few minutes, just looking down at the hamburgers he was flipping. Just as Mark was thinking that he for sure wasn't going to say anything he spoke up. "It was Christy and Aaron. They saved Tori; not me, her daddy, my daughter and her boyfriend. If they wouldn't have been with us, Tori would have died."

"Oh, how? How'd they save her I mean?"

Derek again paused before answering. "He was about to kill Tori and Christy offered herself up instead. I tried to stop her but she wouldn't. So, he took her instead and was about to shoot her when Aaron picked up a rock, threw it at him and made him stumble backwards. Christy got away and the cops showed up and shot Roy. "

"Wow, brave kids."

"Yeah," Derek responded sighing, "thank god they were able to use their brains because I sure as hell didn't. I froze."

"Derek, don't beat yourself up, it was a high stress situation, and Tori is fine anyway, it's over."

"Yeah," Derek replied, as he looked over at Tori, chasing the other kids around in a game of tag. Mark was right, it's over and done with, he thought.

"Okay everybody," Mark announced, "the food is ready." Derek served the kids their hot dogs, Tori was last in line and when he finally got to her he decided to tickle her first.

"Daddy…daddy…daddy…stop!" Tori giggled in her cute little kid way. "I just want my hotdog!"

"Alright alright," Derek said, handing it to her with ketchup on it. He bent down and kissed her head and smiled as she walked back to where the rest of the kids were sitting at the picnic table.

Christy then walked up to the grill to get herself a hamburger, and followed her father's gaze to Tori. "Dad, that was over 5 months ago, she's fine."

"I know," he said, "and it's all because of you. Thank you sweetie." He reached over and pulled her into a one arm hug, kissing the top of her head. He looked over at the table where his gaze met Meredith's and they both smiled. He mouthed I love you at her and she mouthed you too back. Looking around at her back yard that day; at all the smiles, the kids playing, her friends with her, and most of all, a happy and safe Tori, Meredith knew that this would be a family that lasted forever.

THE END

**I'm going to do a short epilogue though.**


	12. A Wedding and a Proposal epilogue

**I hope you liked my story, and my two before that. This will be a short epilogue to, most likely, end the series. I do not own Grey's Anatomy.**

A Wedding and a Proposal

6 months later

To Meredith it felt like forever ago that Derek had gotten down on one knee at the Christmas dinner table with all of their friends or family as they truly seem, and proposed to her. There had been a lot of strain on the family right after that and it took a toll on Meredith and Derek's relationship, but they managed to pull through and were now back to the happy family that they were before the incident. And now, on December 1st, they were finally getting married.

Meredith was pulled from her thoughts by her maid of honor, who also happened to be her step-daughter, who felt more like an actual daughter, Christy. "Meredith, it's time to go."

"Okay, I'm ready," she said as she smiled, and that was no lie, she really was ready. Christy moved to take her place with Mark, the best man, while Izzie and Cristina, the other bridesmaid's moved to be beside the groomsmen, Burke and Derek's favourite brother-in-law John.

The wedding ceremony began with little Tori bouncing down the aisle in an adorable royal blue dress with her dark hair done in beautiful curls. Derek smiled a huge smile at his daughter totally loving up the attention. Next, came a more shy, but still smiling Milo, carrying the rings. Following him was Cristina and Burke, Izzie and John and then Christy and Mark. Derek smiled at his oldest daughter when he saw her coming down the aisle, also dressed in royal blue, looking gorgeous. Derek just couldn't believe how fast she had grown up.

And finally, it was time for Meredith, who was being escorted by Richard on one side and her father on the other. Derek smiled his McDreamy smile from his place at the altar, trying to keep tears from his eyes. She looked unbelievably beautiful, wearing a strapless off-white dress that looked as though it was made just for her.

The priest began the ceremony and eventually got to the vows, Derek was first. "Meredith, when we met you told me you were just a girl, and I told you I was just a guy. The next day, when I saw you at the hospital, I knew that you and I were meant for each other. You trusted me at times when I didn't deserve your trust, you gave me second and third chances when I didn't deserve them and you gave me your love even when I didn't deserve that. We have been through so much together and it has shown me that you are way more than just a girl. You are my best friend, my fellow surgeon, the mother of my children and the women that I want to spend the rest of my life with. I love you." When he finished he reached up and wiped a tear away from Meredith's cheek with his thumb, as he smiled at her.

Now, it was her turn. "Derek, before I met you I was dark and twisty, not a very happy person. When I met you I thought to myself, this could be the guy I want to spend the rest of my life with and for the first time in a long time I wasn't dark and twisty Meredith anymore. I was now bright and shiny Meredith, but of course that didn't last, your wife showed up and I was back to dark and twisty, I was broken. When your marriage ended and you came back to me I didn't know if I wanted to take a chance at being broken again, because by that point, I was almost fixed. However, a very smart woman convinced me that without you I would never completely heal, that I needed you for that. So, I took you back and it was the best decision I ever made because now, standing here facing you, I am completely healed, I've left the broken, dark and twisty Meredith behind. I know I've found the guy I want to spend the rest of my life with, I love you Derek."

"I know pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride." And they did.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA

10 years later

Christy Shepherd stood nervously in the locker room waiting to be called. It was her first day as an intern at Seattle Grace. She had gone to Harvard Med. and graduated top of her class, and applied into Seattle Grace's program. She wanted to follow in her father and step-mother's footsteps and become a neurosurgeon.

"White, Shepherd, Robbins, Marshall," a resident named Dr. McDonald called. He was short, about 5'5'', was a little chubby and had a balding head already. When he spoke however, he was slightly intimidating. "I have three rules; these are your pagers, answer them at a run, I hate suck-ups so don't be one, and last, if you screw up, don't give me some lame excuse, admit to your mistake, you'll make a better doctor." And so the day began. By lunch time Christy was already exhausted, she went up to visit her father in his office. She knocked on the door, which had a shiny metal name plate on it that read; Dr. Derek Shepherd Chief of Surgery.

"Come in," she heard him say, in what he thought was his intimidating voice. "Hey Sweetie, how's the first day going?"

"Tiring," she said, sitting down on his couch.

"I know, but you just got to keep on going, it'll get better, and some day you'll be like your old man, a world renowned neurosurgeon."

"It'll be a long time before that happens dad, I think I'm going to take it just one step at a time, focusing on the day."

"Sounds like a plan, so what's your next step then? Does it involve you and I for lunch?"

"Definitely," she answered and Derek smiled, wrapping his arm around her shoulders like he did when she was a kid.

They got down to the cafeteria and Christy noticed her boyfriend sitting at a table, smiling at her. "You go ahead," Derek said, "I'll grab us some sandwiches."

She walked over to him and he stood up and gave her a hug and a kiss. She sat down and thought he was doing the same but instead Aaron got down on one knee, and the rest, they say, is history.


End file.
